


Love-sick puppy

by AnaGP



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Tony Being Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 04:35:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9702062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnaGP/pseuds/AnaGP
Summary: The tale of 'Bucky’s fine. He’s not obsessing over Tony like some love-sick puppy because hah, no, he’s most definitely not love sick. Seriously, he’s fine.'Or, how Bucky got to take Tony out on a date.





	

Bucky’s fine. He is. He’s been settling into his new life at the Tower and everything is fine and dandy. Really, he just likes observing Tony from afar because he’s a sniper and that’s what he’s been trained to do, he’s not obsessing over Tony like some love-sick puppy because _hah_ , no, he’s most definitely _not_ love sick. Or a puppy.

And the fact that he hasn’t dared to even think of himself being in love with the engineer has _nothing_ to do with the fact that Tony does not notice Bucky like he wants to be noticed.  

Seriously, Bucky’s fine. He’s _fine._

The door of the kitchen opens and Tony walks in, all caffeine-deprived and gorgeous in his oil-stained t-shirt.

“Morning,” Bucky says.

“Bucky!” Tony jumps at the sound of Bucky’s voice and blinks a few times. “I didn’t see you there.”

The super soldier smiles softly and offers the engineer a mug of coffee.

“You sure know how to please a fella, Barnes,” the engineer says as he takes a sip, “Listen, I was wondering-”

“Tony, I’ve been thinking-”

“-it’s just a thought because I know-”

“-and it’s alright if you don’t want to-”

“-that you’re not comfortable around people but-”

“-but maybe you’d like to-”

“-would you go with me to the Stark Gala?”

“-grab a coffee with me sometime?”

Bucky stares at Tony.

Tony stares at Bucky.

Bucky looks down at his abandoned bagel.

Tony looks down at his coffee.

Well, that didn’t turn out at all like he’d been expecting. Bucky clears his throat, “Say again?”

“I..uh…” Tony takes a sip from his mug, “Yes, sorry. What were you saying?”

“It’s nothing,” the soldier answers, playing it cool. Yes, like he did _not_ just ask Tony out. “You said something about a gala?”

“Oh, right!” Tony smiles, “Would you like to go with me? Pepper would kill me if I didn’t attend this one but she did say I could bring someone and I thought ‘hey, I should totally ask Buckaroo’ because…well, you know, I was not going to ask Clint or…yeah. So I thought, maybe you’d like to go.” Tony’s looking at Bucky and waiting for him to say something but the soldier can’t because Tony just asked him _out._ Kind of. Probably? Maybe not. The point is Tony wants to spend time with him. Right? Bucky doesn’t know the answer and isn’t that a terrifying thing, _hah,_ not _at all._ “Buckster? You ok there? Are you broken? Did I break you? Oh, _no._ Please tell me I didn’t break you, Steve would murder me.”

“Won’t you just rather go…with a dame?” Bucky asks because he has to, because he needs to make sure that this is real. “Or…someone much more stable?”

“Why would I want to go with anyone else?” Tony frowns, “Is it- Is this your way of letting me down easy?”

“What? No, Tony, no. I’m just…are you _sure_ you’re asking me because you want to? This is not some scheme of Steve’s to get me to socialize more or some shit like that?”

“I want you there, Bucky,” Tony says in a soft voice.

“Then I’ll be there.”

“Great! I’ll have clothes sent to your floor, thank you Buckster! You’re the best!” Tony leans in and gives him a one-arm hug before leaving.

Bucky’s _fine._ He’s most definitely not panicking about attending a gala. He’s _not._

\--

Turns out, Bucky’s not fine. He’s been standing in front of the mirror for an hour now and he’s still not satisfied with how he looks. The tuxedo fits him perfectly and he’s pulled his hair back so he looks presentable but he can’t get his _charm_ on right. And isn’t that a funny little thought because Bucky possesses no charm after being the Winter Soldier. It’s not fair. He just wished he could be witty and smart and sweep Tony off his feet like he used to do back when he was still Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, _ma’am, how do you do?_  

Bucky sighs.

Someone knocks on his door and Bucky’s _absolutely fine._

“Buckster, babe, you ok?” It’s Tony, of course it’s Tony. “It’s time to go.”

“’M fine,” Bucky mutters to himself and then louder, “I’m fine, Tony, just give me a second!”

Bucky takes a deep breath, opens the door and stares. Tony’s standing there with his hair combed and wearing a tuxedo that fits him so well that Bucky licks his lips unconsciously. Unsurprisingly, it’s Tony who breaks the silence, “You clean up nice, Bucky.” Was that a slight tremor in the engineer’s voice or was Bucky’s mind playing tricks on him again?

Bucky attempts a smirk, “Play your cards nicely, Stark and I’ll let you have a slow dance.” Tony laughs, it’s sweet and warm and _damn it,_ Bucky’s _not_ a love-struck puppy. He’s _not._

\--

They’ve been dancing for hours and the press has taken more than a hundred pictures of them, Bucky’s sure. A couple of songs later they’re standing by the bar chatting, and it’s just his luck that when he’s about to steer their conversation towards the territory of relationships, a man with glasses approaches and Tony’s smile is suddenly not friendly anymore.

“Tony, Tony, Tony,” the man says and drapes an arm on the engineer’s shoulders and it’s all Bucky can do not to throw the man to the floor and beat the ever living shit out of him, “Good, ol’ Tony, bringing new and exciting people to these galas every time.”

“Hammer,” Tony says as he extricates himself from Hammer’s grasp. “Why are you here?”

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” Justin says, looking at the super soldier, “He’s pretty. Where do you find all these pretty boys, huh, Tony?”

“Go away, Hammer,” Tony says, taking half a step in Bucky’s direction as if he wanted to shield him from the other man. “Don’t you have some circuits to ruin?”

Hammer laughs and places a hand on Tony’s forearm and Bucky can see the tendons on the engineer’s jaw tense. “Don’t be like that, Tony. We know all pretty boys want from you is some cash, don’t we?” Tony’s right hand has begun to shake and Bucky can’t take it anymore.

“Come, doll,” Bucky gently touches Tony’s shoulder and guides him away from Hammer.

“I’m sorry,” Tony says, “I didn’t realize people would think of you as a one-night stand, I-”

“Hey, hey, hey, doll,” Bucky says and entwines his flesh fingers gently with Tony’s, “Don’t apologize, it’s not your fault.”

Tony shakes his head, “You don’t understand. I used to be like that and I-”

“Tony,” Bucky says and the engineer turns to look at him with such pain in his eyes that the soldier has a hard time trying not to kiss the genius right then and there. “I know.”

“You-you know? Of my past? All the…sleeping around I did?”

Bucky nods.

“And you’re not…disgusted by me?”

Bucky shakes his head. Silence. Well, that turned awkward real fast.

“So, I…um… There’s a 24/7 diner nearby.” Tony arches an eyebrow. “I was thinking maybe we could ditch this joint and grab something to eat? They have _the best_ hamburgers this side of New York and-” Bucky stops because Tony’s expression has turned completely serious and he panics. Oh heavens, what if Tony _hated_ him now. Oh no.Nononononononoplease-

Bucky’s brought back to reality by Tony’s hand on his shoulders and the intense look in the engineer’s eyes. “Let’s go. Take me to _the best_ hamburgers this side of New York.”

And just like that, Tony turns around and starts walking towards the exit. Bucky stares and whispers to himself, “Does this count as a date?”

“Sure it does!” Tony shouts and Bucky sprints after him.

Alright, so maybe Bucky _was_ love-struck. But this might be the night he finally gets to kiss Tony so he’s _fine._ He is.


End file.
